A wave of an “unusually high amount” of vehicle thefts and attempted auto burglaries, which included one car chase, recently hit Cal State Long Beach in a 14-day period.
“There are times when all of the programming and patrol work … are tremendously effective,” said Stan Skipworth, chief of University Police. “And then sometimes there are those very rare instances [when] these things do occur.”
Five vehicles were stolen on campus between Feb. 20 and March 6. Three of the vehicles have since been recovered. Two other attempts to break into vehicles were thwarted by University Police and a car owner after she caught the suspects in the act.
CSULB was ranked No. 2 in 2005 by the “Crimes in the United States” FBI report.
Skipworth said a warrant has been issued for a suspect who is believed to be involved in an attempted vehicle burglary and in some of the other recent vehicle thefts. University Police put a warrant out for this suspect after they got hold of the 2001 Jeep Cherokee that was used in the suspect’s fleeing from the scene of the attempted vehicle burglary, which occurred on Feb. 28.
Fernando Solorzano, University Police captain, said police obtained the Jeep after a sergeant patrolling Palo Verde Avenue in a squad car noticed two people near a 1999 Toyota truck parked on the west side of the street. The sergeant recognized that the vehicle belonged to a police dispatcher.
Once the sergeant approached them, the suspects ran into their Jeep and sped off. But the pursuit was short-lived.
The suspects crashed only a few blocks away at the intersection of Atherton Street and Palo Verde Avenue. Their Jeep had jumped over a center island, ripping off all four tires, and then landed in a ditch.
Police pursued the suspects on foot to the 1800 block of Carfax Avenue, which was about 100 yards away from the crash scene.
Both suspects got away.
The upward spike in vehicle thefts began Feb. 20 when a CSULB student reported his 1994 Nissan pickup as missing from Parking Lot 14 at 5:15 p.m. He had parked his car there the night before. Police said they were unsure if the student lives on campus.
Police found the pickup just two hours later near Whaley Park on Atherton Avenue. The vehicle had been stripped of its battery, catalytic converter, GPS device, one tire and its rim.
“The black market for stolen car parts can be very lucrative,” Skipworth said.
This was followed by the theft of a 1980 Toyota pickup on Feb. 24 from Lot 20. The owner had parked the vehicle there the morning before, and police said they do not know whether the owner is a campus resident.
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department notified University Police on March 2 that one a substation based in the Compton area recovered the pickup. It had been stripped of parts.
A 1994 Ford Escort was stolen on March 3 from Lot 6. The owner had parked it there at 7 a.m. and found it missing at 6 p.m. It has yet to be recovered.
Stolen on March 4 from Lot 20, a 1986 Jeep Cherokee was recovered with no missing parts. University Police have video evidence of this theft caught by their security camera system.
The same Compton-based sheriff substation that recovered the stripped Toyota pickup later found this Jeep.
“That gives us some feeling that we may very well have the same person [involved],” Skipworth said.
Skipworth said University Police will work with the sheriff’s department to investigate suspects in past vehicle crimes that have taken place in the district patrolled by that sheriff substation..
According to University Police’s activity log, a 1999 Nissan Maxima was reported stolen on March 6 from Parking Structure 2. It has not been recovered.
One car owner scared off a would-be vehicle burglar after she accidentally caught him trying to break into her car. This happened after she parked her four-door 1995 Honda on the top level of Parking Structure 2 on March 4.
After going inside a nearby friend’s car to talk, she saw a man drive up to her car in a full-sized pickup. The man then got out of his truck and lifted the passenger’s side door handle of the woman’s car. She then confronted the man, who got into his truck and sped away.
After being notified, University Police looked for the man. They couldn’t find him and searched for fingerprints. The man was described as a medium- to heavy-built Hispanic, 20 to 25 years old, and 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet tall.
“This is an unusually high amount of activity for us,” Skipworth said.
Skipworth said the multitude of vehicle crimes allows University Police to search for methods preferred by the criminals. As a result, University Police will begin to eliminate known criminals in the area who don’t share those preferences.
This may allow University Police to eventually pinpoint which criminal committed the crimes.
Skipworth said University Police could make good use of the preferences to find those responsible for the crimes.
“We’re pretty excited about the similarities,” he said.
Skipworth said University Police have put out notifications to other law enforcement agencies about the recent vehicle crimes. They are also trying to find out if other agencies have reported recent cases of people stripping vehicles or following a similar pattern.
It would be useful if articles on campus crime included identification as to which affected parking lots have digital security cameras. (I realize the interiors of campus parking garages do not have any cameras — too expensive because logistically problematic). Although no system is perfect, a tremendous amount of money was paid for the CSULB security camera system. How useful has real-time University Police monitoring of footage from these cameras been during this recent rash of auto thefts? And have campus police, in reviewing past digital footage, discovered anything missed in real time, anything useful in their efforts to identify patterns of the crimes, suspects, etc.? As for awareness among students, staff and faculty, it’s good to read that some thefts were prevented owing to attentive, on-the-ground observations — often the best kind of deterrence. The impacts of the spiraling economy (increased joblessness, etc.) will undoubtedly precipitate more auto thefts on campus. Human vigilance, watching out for each other, and plain common sense — not over-reliance on technology — should prevail. And good luck to the campus police in successfully apprehending the thieves.